No one, however, has better insight into TV and Notre Dame than ESPN studio analyst Lou Holtz.

“It’s very important that Notre Dame is one of the marquee programs in college football,” said Holtz, who coached the Irish to a national championship in 1988. “Notre Dame fans have been waiting for years to be able to jump up and scream and holler.

“And it’s good for college football. When Notre Dame is on top, college football is better.”

NBC pays $15 million a year for the rights to Notre Dame home games and has a contract through 2015. The network garnered record ratings this season, as did ABC and ESPN for the Notre Dame road games those networks carried.

“I’ve been going to ESPN for eight years, and there are about six restaurants I go and eat in,” Holtz said. “For the first time, I’ve had waitresses say, ‘Boy, isn’t this a great year for Notre Dame?’

“I go through the airport, I go through security a lot easier now than I ever have before: ‘Hey coach, Notre Dame is doing great.’

“I mean, people that never talked to me about college football before are talking about Notre Dame.”

In late August, Holtz said, he believed this would be a special year for the Irish.

“Watching their spring game, I was very impressed with Everett Golson,” he said of the Irish quarterback. “His presence on the field, the strength of his arm, his accuracy and vision. He reminded me so much of Tony Rice as far as being in control of everything.

“I thought they had an excellent offensive line. I didn’t know their defense would be as good as it has been.”

“I’m anxious to see how Alabama’s offensive line matches up with Manti Te’o and the defensive front of Notre Dame,” Holtz said. “This Notre Dame defense is very comparable to an SEC defense. They’re very physical, they’re very strong. They get good pressure with the four-man rush. They’re very good fundamentally.

“Defense is going to be the key because Alabama has got to be able to run the ball with some degree of success.

“These teams match up very well, and it should be a great, great game.”

Final bowl lineup

• Today’s early game — before the NFL kicks off — is Pittsburgh-Mississippi in the Compass Bowl. Kickoff is at 10 a.m. on ESPN. Eamon McAnaney, David Diaz-Infante and Paul Carcaterra are the announcers.

• Sunday’s late game — after the NFL games finish — is Kent State-Arkansas State in the
GoDaddy.com Bowl on ESPN. Mark Jones, Brock Huard and Jessica Mendoza are the broadcast team.

• The Football Championship Subdivision title game — North Dakota State-Sam Houston State — is set for 10 a.m. today on ESPN2.

Area notes

• The U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, a high school football all-star game, is scheduled for 10 a.m. today on NBC. Defensive back Su’a Cravens (Vista Murrieta High), who is headed to USC, is on the roster but won’t play because of a shoulder injury.

• Mike Shepard, programming/operations director at The Mighty 1090, said the station has had about 80 inquiries from people interested in being Lee Hamilton’s partner on the station’s morning show. Shepard said eight or nine “stand above the rest.” Shepard wants to work quickly to find Hamilton a partner, but management would rather “be diligent and find the right person rather than rush and make a mistake.”

NFL notes

• The NFL playoffs kick off with wild-card doubleheaders today and Sunday. The games today are Bengals-Texans at 1:30 p.m. and Vikings-Packers at 5 p.m. Both are on NBC. Dan Hicks, Mike Mayock and Alex Flanagan will call the early game, with Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya on the late game. Sunday’s games are Colts-Ravens at 10 a.m. on CBS and Seahawks-Redskins at 1:30 p.m. on Fox. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will work the CBS game, with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver and Erin Andrews on the Fox game.

• There are playoff doubleheaders next Saturday and Sunday, too. The pairings for the Jan. 12 and 13 games are up in the air. What is known is that the Broncos will host the 1:30 p.m. game Jan. 12 on CBS and the 49ers will host the 5 p.m. game on Fox. The Falcons will host the 10 a.m. game on Jan. 13 on Fox. The Patriots will host the 1:30 p.m. game on CBS.

• The NFC championship game is at noon on Jan. 20 on Fox. The AFC championship is at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 20 on CBS.

• CBS has the Super Bowl at 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 3.

• Fox NFL commentator Jay Glazer on the Chargers’ coach and general manager vacancies: “It’s a very attractive job out there in San Diego.”

Ratings game

• The Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl on ESPN on New Year’s Day combined to average an 8.0 rating, up 11 percent from last year. The Rose Bowl — Stanford-Wisconsin — drew a 9.6, down 3 percent from last year’s Oregon-Wisconsin game. The Orange Bowl — Northern Illinois-Florida State — got a 6.5 rating, up 44 percent from last year’s West Virginia-Clemson game.

• Sunday’s Cowboys-Redskins game on NBC that decided the NFC East title was the highest-rated NFL regular-season game on the network. The game had an 18.3 rating with a 30 share of the national audience, meaning that about 1 of every 3 TV sets on at the time nationally was tuned in to the game. In Washington, D.C., the game got a 44.6 rating with a 68 share. In Dallas, the numbers were 36.9 rating with a 55 share.

Hoops scoop

• ESPN has an interesting matchup at 1 p.m. today: No. 23 North Carolina State and Boston College.

• Cal is at USC for a 7 p.m. game today on FSN.

• Neither San Diego State nor USD plays this weekend.

Around the dial

• Time Warner Cable SportsNet will carry 11 Los Angeles D-Fenders home games. The D-Fenders are the official minor-league team of the Lakers. The next game is at 3 p.m. today against Sioux Falls with 3 p.m. games Jan. 12 against Bakersfield and Jan. 19 vs. Fort Wayne. San Diego’s Steve Quis and former Lakers star A.C. Green call the action.

• The NBC Sports Network will trace the rise of the NFL in a four-part series called “Star Spangled Sundays.” The show debuts at 7 p.m. Tuesday and will run on consecutive Sundays after that.